Guild Wars 2

I am new to thief but I’m level 80 at this point in time and have been wanting to kill enemy yaks to halt supply upgrades in EBG. I am looking for a build that is good for killing yaks that are being escorted. I’ve been using D/P full zerker and just backstabbing the yak to death through usage of BP + HS but was just wondering if there is a better build out there for this. I am thinking maybe P/D with some sort of condition spec could work better? I’m thinking of trying P/D D/P where I use D/P for running around the place with stealth in enemy territory and then swap to the P/D when I get to the yak. Then I would swap back to D/P immediately after the yak is dead and stealth to get out though I’d have shadowstep and shadow refuge on my bar too just incase. What particular condition gear is good for P/D yak killing? I was thinking maybe Dire or Carrion but I dunno how much of my damage would come from conditions and how much would come from regular attacks since I’d probably get into a rotation between CnD and skill 1 on pistol.

Edit: here is the build I came up with:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQRAqY4alUmaPHdy5E95EC3DnyoaK/DflODaqBB-jEzAo/Ij6SGFAgWASMUmJHQpwioxWwEiKfas6GMNKRUtHpIa1SBAxyK-w

Any thoughts?

P/D condition build with caltrops and a bit of Choking Gas will work almost as fast as D/D. But you cannot mix D/D and P/D very well as one is a Power/Crit setup and the other a Condition. You could try Carrion but both will suffer. Dealing with mostly player escorts, I’d go Dire and focus on p/d condition.

I’ve always used the standard 0/30/30/10/0. If you are power based builds basically the first traitline you go in is Critical Strikes. It gives Precisision and Critical damage and has some good traits in it. You can use either D/P or D/D with this build. You can use them both or you can use just one with a shortbow for superior mobility.

I have never run a condition spec, but what I can say is that most thieves run a power based build. I think this because condition thieves are not useful for group situations, because it the spec has not enough burst and in group situations there are more condition cleanses.
Personally I never had trouble killed a condition thief, or did not bother because it was too tanky and not worth my time.

I’m not going to link my own build (for once), but one of the many ideas behind it that I’ve developed over the past year is to be extremely mobile via Infi Signet, Shadowstep, Infiltrator’s Arrow and Infiltrator’s Strike (both with high initiative regeneration), Withdraw and Roll for Initiative (turn 180 degrees and roll backwards- you can hotkey this), and a low CD Steal. You can basically set up a combo like Shadow Step + Infi Strike + Infi Signet + Steal to literally travel up to 3600 range in about a couple of seconds (note: I’d try out this combo in the Mists on some golems first, may take some time for you to get used to and even if you do, you need to have a good instinctive feeling of when you can and can’t use the combo). You can even boost Steal’s range through the Trix trait line anyways, allowing you to travel a grand total of ~4500 range in the blink of an eye. It’s an extremely powerful combination, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to catch up with yaks and opponents or flee because of these types of things. You don’t even need to sacrifice much if any damage.

If that’s what you’re looking for, then an S/X (preferably S/D because of some other characteristics of the build, but it’s your choice) and SB combined with Shadowstep and Infi Signet and probably at least 15 in Trix (I’d personally say 30, but again, your choice) will allow you to map travel very quickly, especially if you can supplement it with small bursts of swiftness.

frans.8092:

P/D condition build with caltrops and a bit of Choking Gas will work almost as fast as D/D. But you cannot mix D/D and P/D very well as one is a Power/Crit setup and the other a Condition. You could try Carrion but both will suffer. Dealing with mostly player escorts, I’d go Dire and focus on p/d condition.

I’d advise against trying to kill escorted Dolyaks with conditions in WvW. While it’s hilarious to kill a yak while stealthed with Caltrops and Choking Gas, if the escort has any healing and condition clear (like a Ranger, for instance) they will be able to keep the yak alive through your shenanigans.

Best bet is a high-mobility burst build, and feel free to sacrifice the mobility for more burst if you don’t care about dying. Trading a death for a yak is not necessarily a bad thing if you are trying to deny a resupply.